Malchom's Woods chapter 1: Different faces
Welcome to my novel, Malchom's Woods! Chapter 1 recounts the first few hours of Ember's life, and introduces us to Joshua. Malchom's Woods chapter 2: The feast(s) Malchom's Woods chapter 3: The fire goddess Malchom's Woods chapter 4: Escape from hell Malchom's Woods chapter 5: The fog-Bulls Malchom's Woods chapter 6: Unlikely allies Malchom's Woods chapter 7: Exodus Malchom's Woods chapter 8: Road trip Malchom's Woods chapter 9: Cage Malchom's Woods chapter 10: The great desert Malchom's Woods chapter 11: The mountains on high|written = Carnotaur|release = }} FIRST CONFIGURATION Chapter 1: Different Faces Light from the darkness Faces. Four faces. Four smiling faces. That is what it saw when light came through the shell, lightly obscured by some hard material. It moved its body around, trying to break free of its confines. Finally, enough was removed to see much more. As the light came through, the faces became clearer, as its vision adapted into a world negative to where he was looking out of. The first face disturbed it, the round chubby head it was upon, smiled down in an unsettling way. It seemed there could be no trust in it; it seemed it would do you wrong. The second was darker in color, a contrast to all the others. It had a smile, much more trustworthy-looking than the former’s. The third was mostly calm, but showed a hint of excitement, an anticipation leaking through, showing that this face had been waiting for this day, this hour, to witness what was happening now, right before its patient eyes. Not much more however, could be said for that face. Now the fourth... the fourth was smiling so hard it was frightening. But the face obviously cared. It was unlike all the others, seeming to gleam with pride and joy, an accomplishment. It was a face that was so happy, that it began to cry out its tears. The face, from what it was now realizing was much more than a mere face, showed care, love, and a true devotion. It was truly the most intriguing of all things around him. Then the shell it was inside began to shake, ever so gently. Soon, the shell began to come away, like a scroll, revealing more of the world to it. It could now see that the faces were not just faces, but larger forms, much larger than him. An appendage came down, seemingly from the happy face that had intrigued it. It was lifted out, its skin now feeling cool air, not the warmth of its world now left behind. Things began to happen in the animal’s brain that Humans have occur to them at the same moment of post-birth. It began to understand what it was, and what sub group it was: it was a Velociraptor, of the male order. However, he didn’t know his Latin species name, but just his animal name; Hunter. His genetics knew what he was, and that he was made to survive on the feeding of other life form’s flesh. But, his instinct did not demand that he kill what was touching him, or attack it. In fact, it did not demand him to do anything. His own reasoning told him, that he should trust these larger, god-like Beings. The Beings were his friend it seemed, and he should not attack, or do any such thing. He, the Velociraptor was now held high into the air that felt crisp, but sterile, adding plainness to interest. The other Beings were holding others. Others like him in form, but not in color of skin, and of sex. He looked about at the others around him, being held in the arms of the Beings. His mind, yet still young, only being existent outside the hard, external egg; the place of his birth, only a few minutes: he had learned that he was one of three, one of two males, opposite to two others like him, but not in gender. His conclusion(coming from his genetics) told him that they were female, the other side of species, who’s part in the group, was to rule over the males, and to supply their species with the female reproductive cells, essential to their existence beyond this group of four. The raptor studied each one in order: 1. A female, quite larger than himself, with a teal scale pattern. She was obviously a dominant character. No doubt, she would try to make herself Matriarch, when her youth had changed to adulthood. 2. This one was a male, Beta class to the rest, from what he saw. The male’s body was a light brown, with a so slight tinge of orange. His skin was ordained by stripes, which, if on an alpha member, would be used to intimated Betas. He had sadly lost that chance, and would possibly fail in his life, being picked on by the others. However, the raptor who was studying him, did not intend to do so when the time came. He noticed as well, that this male was sick-looking. He seemed frail, and malnourished. 3. A female once more. Her skin was quite beautiful, a near-solid yellow, like the Sun, which she was yet to see. On the yellow were some black spots, like that of a big Cat’s. Her eyes were a crisp emerald. The emerald went in perfect addition to the rest of her form. From what he could tell, she may have been a contender for Matriarch, but was still to be seen. On the health of her, however, he could tell she looked the same health-wise as the other male. It was plain to see to him, that this was his family, his group. He would live with them for as long as time would decide, collaborating with fate, and unknowable destiny. He was part of a pack… Heat rays A lone man sat under a brown-leaved tree, its branches large, offering shade that could have been there, had its leaves not fallen. In the man held something: a machete, dripping with the red liquid of life. This person’s head was low, slumped, like the rest of his body. He seemed tired. The weary Human was roughly thirty years of age, so his birth being in the decade of the 80’s. He wore jeans, dirty and worn, the knees dirty as well, for they were exposed to Nature. His torso, quite muscular from what you could tell from it being covered, was enclosed loosely with a soiled t-shirt, drenched with sweat, covering an undershirt, though just as dirty. His face was unshaven, having a small black beard, wet from his forehead’s perspiration of salty water. The man’s eyes were closed, and his hair was wet from his body’s response to heat. From a thorough looking-over of this single Human being, you could tell that he must have been either poor, or living off the grid. The latter being correct. If, let’s say, you took him, and placed him in New York City, or San Francisco, he would have blended well with the impoverished of the city. He would just be a mere vagabond among the homeless, and poor, though he was truly neither of the two. The only comment someone would make, if they saw him in the streets, would be his red hands. One might think he had killed someone, or something, for whatever the reason. But to digress, he was neither poor, nor homeless, nor a murderer of another fellow Homo Sapien. His name, was Joshua Elmer Malchom. Joshua’s latter name would have been heard as “Malcolm,” but it was spelled with the exclusion of the 'i', and introduction of the 'h', changing his name to a rare, and almost unheard of spelling of it. He, Joshua, was the nephew of Ian Malcolm, a man whose past involved mathematics, and dinosaurs, although not the dead kind. Where Joshua was now, was Glen Rose, Texas, a small town south of the city of Dallas, population: him. This little town was known for Dinosaur Valley National Park, where a intrigued visitor could come and see tracks from the once-extinct creatures. Joshua himself, ironically for his situation, was living in the park, for various reasons of his. The source of the blood on his machete and tightly gripped hand, was that he had killed a Deer just several minutes before, but it was way too hot to even move his eyes. It was a very hot day, and the Sun was shining its heat rays on poor Josh. In front of him, was the Deer, killed by a handmade spear, of which had a sharp piece of thin metal for a point, and its rod, made from a shaved tree limb. A swarm of Flies covered the Deer that lay just a few feet in front of him. It looked as if the extremely thick swarm was not a cloud of Insects, but one being. One could say that The Lord of the Flies himself, the wretched Beelzebub, had made his way across the world, to pay a visit to Malchom, and to feast on his recent kill. Joshua didn't move to strip the Deer of its meat. He did not, for he had started to butcher it a little before, and had found it was crawling with parasites. It was a complete, and utterly total waste, of both time, and energy. Both of which he could most likely have used on something better. However, he seemed to not really care, considering his life at the moment. He stopped caring one and a half years ago... thoughts came up, thoughts he would rather block out of anger, and self-loathing. It made him rage. The thoughts were of why he was here, wasting his life force for nothing. And it all came down to stupidity. It was stupidity that got him here, sitting here in this place, in front of rotting Deer, with a swarm of filth hovering above it. He was angry, and it was because of himself, and his ignorance. A final burst of anger caused him to throw his blade towards the carcass of the Deer, missing it, and causing it to go the swarm of Flies. The Flies had hardly stirred from the projectile now passed, but the Flies didn't care... Flies never care... The names of the four''' Henry Wu had a smile on his face, as he picked up the male creature. Its form was so small, so delicate, that it could be hurt quite easily. It was amazing how such a small little thing, could grow in less than a years’ time, to become an apex killer. That was his job: to raise these animals, and unlock their secrets of intelligence, once thought to be unique to man. Next to Henry, to his left, stood Owen Grady, an ex-Marine, and animal trainer. This man would be the one to actually raise them, train them, and eventually… use them. To his right, stood Simon Masrani, an Indian man, dressed in a suit, but wearing gloves to participate in the birth of the first batch. To the right of Masrani, and farthest right to Wu, stood Vic Hoskins. In each of their hands, they held one of the raptors, Owen holding a teal female, he, Wu, holding the red and orange male, Masrani holding the striped male, and Hoskins at the end, holding a female with yellow skin. “They’re beautiful,” said Owen, as he caressed his raptor’s head. To this, Vic replied, “And not just pretty. Think what this guy could do to in combat.” Masrani corrected him, “It’s a female, Hoskins.” Owen glanced over the chubby man, with a hint of disgust. Henry noticed this, but said nothing. The two men were rivals, but not in sport, but in belief. The whole pot of their operation involved using these animals in combat, and Wu and Hoskins loved the idea. Owen, however did not. And Masrani, he didn’t even know what was really happening at the park. The businessman only thought of making the park a fun place, but they needed money to fund the research, and… “Should we get them to their room?" asked Masrani, speaking to Wu. Wu agreed, and they to some of the paper towels they had ready, and cleaned them off. After this, they started off. Suddenly, the world began to move. He realized that the Beings were carrying them away from the platform they had hatched from, and off to he knew not where. Soon, they arrived to a small room, less bright than the previous location. In the room, were four, large fluffy mats next to a larger cage. The mats looked comfortable, and he wanted to go to one. Inside the massive cage, was four round things, similar to the mats, but larger. He soon wanted to lay in one of these instead. Randomly placed around the cage, were strange objects, brightly colored. He, and the others were put inside the cage, each in their own respectable areas. Now inside of the cage, he began to smell around, and as well as look. The world smelled more intriguing than the previous. There he sat with his three unrelated siblings. Hours passed, but he still had yet to get a good grip on time. They were just there being watched by the beings, which occasionally took them out, and did things with them. He noticed that they started speaking certain words to each one. To him, they said the word Ember. To the striped male, the spoke the word, Bengal. The teal, dominant to be, female: Delta, and to the radiant female raptor: Sunshine. So he started to be called by this Ember term, they seemed to be beckoning to him. So when they spoke this, he became alert, and waited to see if they wanted to do whatever they were doing to him. The world was starting to come together… Prints Joshua was looking at animal prints on the ground. One was large, the other small. The only other difference was age. One was from the Mesozoic era past, the other fresh. One not concerned with prints, would merely not notice the small ones, only the larger ones. However, Joshua was very concerned about the nature of these prints. He then took a knee thinking to himself. As he thought, he tapped his fingers rhythmically on the thin layer of mud covering the dried up Paluxy River bed. The reason he was here, was to get water from the river. However, the river had recently began to dry up, and now, it was completely dry; you could see the famous Paluxy dinosaur tracks, and the ones he was focusing on now. He considered how old the tracks may be. Possibly and hour old? They were faint because the ground was not moist, barely leaving any mark. He knew what they belonged to: Compsognathus. Small Theropods, about the size a Chicken, and deadly for their small size. Josh hated Compies. All they were to his mind, were packs of little pestilential Demons that squeak happily when they killed prey... '''drowsy prey that is. He was wary that there may be a small pack walking about, looking for animals to kill. At the moment, he noticed that there was a skeleton of a small Mammal, probably a Mouse. As he looked more, he came to realize that the whole riverbed was covered in little bones of dead creatures. It seemed clear that the place had been used as a Compy killing ground: Compies liked to catch prey in open areas, so they could swarm the victim with ease. Josh then felt a sense of dread. He should try to get out of here. Quick. At that very moment of unfortunate time, he felt a little prick on his leg through his clothes. Though not spoken, Josh in his mind thought: Speak of the Devil. ''He spun around and slapped the Compy away, his flesh touching Reptilian scales. As he turned, he saw that the bite that had been inflicted upon him, was caused by a member of a group. There was pack of Compsognathus, possibly twenty strong. But it was too late. He stood up as fast as he could, and started to run. But the venom was already seeping through his blood. Soon, he collapsed, and fell to the dusty ground. He then felt the weight of the small animals swarm his body, biting him all over. As he lay there, trying to throw himself around, Joshua Malchom’s eyes slowly went blurry as he awaited the inevitable: the feast. Continue To Chapter 2: ''Malchom's Woods chapter 2: The feast(s) Category:Malchom's Woods chapter